Americans bullish on economy and stock market with Trump in office: poll

The poll's release comes shortly after Trump returned to the White House, with the survey conducted between Jan. 2 and 15, shortly before he took office. 

While Americans are optimistic about economic growth, the survey found they were divided on unemployment, with 38% indicating they believe it will increase and 38% saying it will decrease. Meanwhile, 21% believe that unemployment will hold steady over the next six months.

Americans are also less bullish on inflation, with 52% indicating they expect it to rise in the next six months, though that figure is down significantly from close to 80% in previous versions of the Gallup poll.

Solid majorities of Independents felt the same, with 61% indicating they believe there will be economic growth over the next six months and 60% saying they believe the stock market will rise.

Democrats are less bullish, with only 21% indicating they believe there will be growth over the next six months. But a slim majority of Democrats, 51%, do anticipate a bump to the stock market over the same time period.

"Americans are generally hopeful about the economy in the next six months. Part of this optimism stems from Republicans expecting things to improve under a Republican rather than Democratic president," Gallup said in a news release. "But the broader improvements in Americans' outlook may also reflect their confidence in Trump's ability to handle the economy. During his first term, he received some of his strongest issue approval ratings on the economy, which were typically higher than those Biden received on the issue during his term."

The poll, conducted Jan. 2-15, 2025, surveyed a random 1,005 adults living in the U.S. and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus four percentage points.